A first-look image of John Malkovich as Hercule Poirot has been released – and the trademark moustache is gone.

The Hollywood star, 64, has signed up to play the detective in a new BBC1 Agatha Christie drama, and a snap of Malkovich in the role shows him with a small grey moustache and goatee.

Malkovich was photographed on location in North Yorkshire during filming of the three-part adaptation of The ABC Murders, Christie’s 1936 classic.

David Suchet previously played the detective (Ian West/PA)
David Suchet previously played the detective (Ian West/PA)

David Suchet previously played the Belgian sleuth for 25 years in the ITV series.

The BBC drama will be set in the 1930s, when Poirot faces a serial killer known only as ABC and his investigations are “thwarted at every turn by an enemy determined to outsmart him”.